INDYCAR: The Maturation Of Marco Andretti

IndyCar

INDYCAR: The Maturation Of Marco Andretti

Andretti, now in his sixth season as an IndyCar Series driver, is a veteran at the age of 24, yet is still trying to reach his full potential. His new attitude just might do the trick.

Marshall Pruett | Posted April 17, 2011 Long Beach, CA

As Marco Andretti nears his mid-20s, the strides he's making outside of the car are beginning to have a direct impact on his success as an IndyCar driver. (Marshall Pruett)

His youthful appearance hides the fact that even as a 24-year-old, Marco Andretti easily qualifies as an IZOD IndyCar Series veteran.

Making his debut in 2006 after a quick rise up the open-wheel ladder, Andretti won the penultimate race in his debut season and entered 2007 as a star on the rise.

But that was 82 races ago. And with the memories of Andretti being hailed a future champion continuing to fade, the third-generation driver decided a change of outlook was necessary for 2011.

From the outside—and the differences are subtle—Andretti has held his tongue in certain situations (with exception to his blog where he took Tony Kanaan to task...) and has showed an elevated level of maturity that his critics have been waiting to see for quite some time.

The opening round of the 2011 IndyCar season gave the first glimpse of what might be on offer this year.

The 2006 to 2010 version of Marco Andretti would have gone on a long-winded and highly personal rant about Helio Castroneves after the Brazilian triggered the crash at St. Pete that turned Andretti’s world upside down.

That’s not to say Andretti let the three-time Indy winner off the hook, but rather than go for the jugular, he tempered his frustrations to a degree and chose to throw a few jabs at the Team Penske driver before moving on.

Andretti's maturity showed at St. Pete in his dealings with the media after his big crash, and again at Barber where he drove a smart race to score the best result possible on the day. (Marshall Pruett)

The petulance that marked Andretti’s first five years in the series appears to be on the decline, and whether it’s down to simply growing older or having done a bit of soul searching, the 2011 version of Marco Andretti seems more focused, more conscious and definitely more positive.

“My basic approach to this year, which is different than other years, is I’m not going to feel bad for myself anymore,” he told SPEED.com. “I’m going to go out and get the best result I can for myself and not worry about it. We know we’re lacking in some areas to the two top teams. At the last green flag stint at Barber, the [leaders] walked away from me.

"It showed the gap we have and showed what we have to fix and my car was an eighth-place car, but we got a fourth out of it. And that’s how we can keep ourselves in the championship hunt this year. We have to deal with what we have, be honest about it, try to make the absolute most out of it. And if we can’t win on a given day then we won’t get upset about it.”

Asked if his new attitude was something he changed deliberately, Andretti said he can't trace its roots, but he’s committed to making it work.

“I don’t know. It just happened. I’m just not going to sit here and point the finger anymore. It won’t help. I’m about getting results. I’m going to treat each weekend like a championship in itself. The time for complaining is over. It’s time to just get down to business and do it.”

Andretti also mentioned the positive effect that having his father take over the race strategy duties on the No. 26 Venom Energy Drink Indy car has had so far this season.

“I think having dad on the radio has been good as well. We’ve been having fun with it, and when we’re having fun, we perform.”

A question about whether he’s taking a more active leadership role within Andretti Autosport after Tony Kanaan’s departure revealed Andretti’s focus has become more narrow.

“I’m not sure why people feel the need to put the ‘team leader’ tag on somebody at our team. You don’t really see them doing that for the other big teams, but I guess we'll continue to get that question. Honestly, I’m worried on the No. 26 side. I’m worried about leading the 26 car, not the whole team. If they use my setup, that’s great that it can benefit the team. But I don’t wake up in the morning saying that I have to beat my teammates first…I’m looking at Will Power and Dario Franchitti first. Those are the guys I’m gunning for.”

The addition of Mike Conway to the team was most warmly received by Andretti. (Marshall Pruett)

Although Andretti isn’t looking to lead the drivers within the team, he’s clearly enjoying the collaborative process that takes place with his teammates.

“I really think at this level it’s about getting the car beneath you. I’m enjoying myself, and we’re running kind of towards the front, but we’re all business as well. I think it’s just about having good cars and good setups. When Hunter-Reay came to the team, he added to our street course game, and it was upped. And we went to Mike Conway’s setup to start the weekend, so we’re adding more to what we know within the team each week. I think it’s just really starting to come together for us now.”

Andretti isn’t feeling bullish about his chances quite yet, but if he can follow up his fourth-place finish from Barber last weekend with another solid result, he says he could have a wave of momentum to ride into Indy.

“If we come to every weekend prepared for war and ready to fight, we’ll be a force to reckon with. If we can keep scoring good results on the road courses, by the time we get to the ovals, I think we’ll be even stronger.”

Andretti's maturation is a work in progress, but if he remains committed to the process, his star could be on the rise once again.

Marco starts 14th for Sunday's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach after brushing the wall in qualifying, and to his credit, he did not complain about it afterwards.

Marshall Pruett is SPEED.com's Auto Racing Editor, covering IndyCar and sports cars. He also contributes to Road & Track and Racecar Engineering. or Follow him at your own peril.